Slowly reentering my realm

-

Hand-quilting DONE! Now to start the finishing touches.

I arrived home yesterday afternoon, grateful for the time spent with family and equally relieved to be off the road. I do enjoy a journey spent behind the wheel and it goes without saying how much I love being with my children and grandkids. However I am not the spry gal of years before, and I didn't do much once stepping into my house other than eating dinner fixed by my hubby, then managing a little hand-sewing. I plopped into bed shortly after eight p.m. and slept hard all night.

Rising early, as is my usual custom, I drank my coffee and tea while chatting with my spouse; darkness enveloped the landscape not only due to when I woke, but that the sun has moved further along the horizon, the middle of September fast approaching. I'd had a grand plan to start a novel this month, but I was kidding myself; not only have I yet to choose an idea, but quilts are muscling their way onto the docket, as well as a much anticipated visit at the beginning of October from our other daughter and family. I'd rather wait (not procrastinate truly!) until after their stay to begin a new book, freeing my time for some Halloween fabric that I am hoping to turn into at least one quilt, plus a table runner. And if another quilt emerges, all the better.

But first there is completing the EPP quilt pictured above. It was waiting for me, heaped in a pile on my sewing table, precluding any fabric cutting until I give it the proper attention. Which means edging it with a perimeter seam to secure those hexies, then fashioning the binding (strips for which I cut before I left, thanks past me!), attaching that binding, then hand-sewing the binding in place. Oh and don't forget to remove the safety pins, ha ha. How I thought I'd fit writing a new book into my schedule is slightly embarrassing. I'll be doing well getting all this sewing sorted!

I gave little thought to all of this while I was away, absorbed in a wholly different life with two grandsons and their four-month-old pup. Yet I relished being removed from my usual day-to-day, although the heatwave, while great for aching joints, wasn't a thrill. Returning to cool Humboldt County permits quilt making to feel necessary, no need for blankets when it's 113 F outside. My daughter has a newly installed mister hose attached near their patio, from where I took this shot on Friday, pleased for how well the cooling water was captured. And yet two days later I'm thankful for my robe and slippers, hehehe. And to be home where my creative endeavors can flourish.

Mist makes for a cool grandma....

Living far from family is at times frustrating; I want to share in their joys and assist with their struggles. But I am happy to reside where my husband and I call home, delving into projects (or putting them off as sometimes occurs) that stimulate my intellect and satisfy my crafty heart. Yeah my hands ache occasionally and I greatly miss those beloveds, yet this place is my home, alongside the man I love deeply and the life we are forging. How books and quilts and don't forget the garden figures into our souls is a work in progress. And regardless of when I next draft fiction or get patchwork squares on the design wall, more important is the slow, at times silent, but very necessary growth of ourselves as people. I might be a grandmother, but who I am to become next requires contemplation, then the actions associated with such alterations. While I reacquaint myself with my life, I accept that life is always changing. Embracing those changes with open hands and a willing heart, even when that heart aches for those faraway, will provide peace of mind, body, and soul.

Popular posts from this blog

Orphan blocks are not like unfinished novels

-
Image
It's a busy day, getting ready for guests that will enlighten our lives for the next week. However my feet are a little weary, so why not ramble here for a bit, giving those dogs a rest as well as set upon a discourse about the above title before I forget why I thought it was important (lol). I don't even know why I first pondered this, maybe an IG poster mentioned them, which made me think of my orphan EPP blocks. I don't have many machine sewn blocks without a home, but plenty of English paper pieced designs linger in a tote, patterns I liked and HAD TO MAKE. I used plenty of them on a Turning Twenty quilt, decorating some plain tone-on-tone prints and that was a great manner in which to employ less than a quarter of what remains, ahem. Oh and I used some on a t-shirt quilt that I made in conjunction with a friend, who had lived in Hawaii for a few years and wanted to put her aged shirts to quilty use. But still many remain, although I have a plan for them, hehehe. I am h
Read more

Fits, starts, and restarts

-
Image
Two examples from two different skeins of yarn where breaks in the colour scheme occur. Very indicative of my current mood, lol. This is a funny novel, for all the hemming and hawing going on. Never before have I written, then purged scenes with somewhat of an abandon. I truly don't know what to make of it, chalking it up to age, grieving, the weirdly long winter (even though it's spring), or my new computer keyboard, which is small but adequate in a strangely truncated manner. I'm enjoying the writing, but the story keeps veering off on tangents I'm not comfortable with, in that too much is being revealed too soon, bleh. Future and Past Me's are steering clear of this manuscript, perhaps because what came before it was so out of the blue, so cathartic, and this prequel is just as outta my backside as any I've ever written. But I am writing, let me restate that, despite restarting a chapter here and there. I'm not getting much else accomplished, other than s
Read more

Following one's heart

-
Image
Fascinating from the back, as though a map to an unknown destination. It was an early start today, half a chapter written, then texting with my youngest daughter and enjoying photos of her sunrise a few hours east of us. I woke to clear, starry skies, but clouds have since moved in, rain forecast for the next few days. Maybe in a few days I'll have completed my novel; it's VERY CLOSE to being done, but I said that in a recent post, The End dangling like a carrot merely an arm's length away. Meanwhile I've been stitching together Cornflower blocks each evening. The photo above was snapped last night, what I see as I sew. MANY papers to remove, but I'll deal with that later, lol. I'm also working on another quilt, hehehe, more about that in a day or two. And the last ones for this year are washed and waiting to be given to my granddaughters on Christmas, which is just a little over a week away! I considered today's title right after reading through the sevente
Read more